Jeb Bush said “that he would run for president only if he could do so with a sunny spirit, but Mr. Trump, the surprise leader in the polls, has turned this summer into a miserable one for Mr. Bush, gleefully ignoring the traditional rules of political engagement,” the New York Times reports.
“There is the personal ridicule — constantly questioning Mr. Bush’s vigor, invoking a since-retracted statement by his mother, Barbara Bush, that ‘we’ve had enough Bushes’ in the White House, and even alluding to his wife’s Mexican heritage in discussing immigration. But the torment goes deeper than that. Emphasizing bluster over ideas, Mr. Trump has turned the campaign into a tabloid-style clash of personalities, heavy on provocation and insults. What little policy that has been discussed mostly revolves around Mr. Trump’s appeals to anxious white conservatives: stoking fears about immigrants, gang members and foreign countries that, in his telling, are eclipsing America.”
“It is a race, in other words, that embodies what Mr. Bush likes least about politics.”
